To vote from the USA in Guatemala’s 2027 election, register on the TSE’s roll abroad by 20 March 2027 (preliminary deadline in the TSE timetable, reported by AGN), with a valid DPI, then vote in person at a TSE centre in the US on election day, planned for 27 June 2027. From abroad you vote only for President and Vice President. This page is the step-by-step procedure. The TSE’s registration numbers and its US registration drives are on our voting-abroad numbers page; a one-screen procedure card sums up the requirements.
Quick summary
- Deadline: register or update your data by 20 March 2027 (preliminary; AGN, 30 June and 30 September 2026). Legal rule: no less than three months before the first round (Regulation for Voting Abroad, Art. 6).
- ID to register: a valid DPI. A valid passport works only if you already registered your DPI with the TSE (Art. 5).
- How to register: online at the TSE voting-abroad portal (it loaded on 3 November 2026), at a TSE desk in a consulate or at a registration drive, or at a TSE office in Guatemala (Art. 7).
- On the day: in person, at any enabled centre abroad, with a valid DPI or passport (Art. 8). No electronic voting in 2027 (TSE magistrate, Prensa Libre, 1 August 2026).
- Cost: free (Electoral Law, Arts. 8 and 225).
- Dates (preliminary TSE timetable, reported by AGN on 30 June 2026): election call 22 January 2027, first round 27 June 2027, possible runoff 22 August 2027.
What you can vote for from abroad
| Office | Votable from USA? | Source |
|---|---|---|
| President + Vice President (first round) | Yes | Electoral Law, Art. 12; Regulation for Voting Abroad, Art. 1 |
| President + Vice President (runoff) | Yes | Electoral Law, Art. 12 (the vote abroad is cast on the same date as in Guatemala) |
| Diputados al Congreso de la República | No | Electoral Law, Art. 12 (President and Vice President only) |
| Diputados al Parlamento Centroamericano (Parlacén) | No | Electoral Law, Art. 12 |
| Alcaldes y Corporaciones Municipales | No | Electoral Law, Art. 12 |
2027 dates
| Stage | Date | Status and source |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline to register or update your data | 20 March 2027 | Preliminary TSE timetable (AGN, 30 June 2026); restated by AGN, 30 September 2026 |
| Roll published | April 2027 | Reported by AGN (30 September 2026), after the TSE cleans the roll |
| Call for elections (decree) | 22 January 2027 | Preliminary TSE timetable, reported by AGN (30 June 2026) |
| First round | 27 June 2027 | Preliminary, AGN (30 June 2026) |
| Runoff, if needed | 22 August 2027 | Preliminary, AGN (30 June 2026) |
| Authorities take office | 14 January 2028 | Agencia Ocote (26 August 2026), citing the preliminary timetable |
The TSE says the timetable is preliminary until the Pleno de Magistrados approves it through the call-for-elections decree. That decree also sets the districts abroad and the voting method (Regulation, Arts. 9 and 11).
Documents you need
To register or update your residence (Regulation for Voting Abroad, Art. 5):
- Valid DPI (Documento Personal de Identificación), issued in Guatemala or at a consulate.
- Or a valid Guatemalan passport, only if you already registered your DPI with the TSE.
To vote (Art. 8): a valid DPI or passport, being on the Electoral Roll Abroad, being a citizen, and not having already voted in that election.
Passport checks: AGN reported on 10 September 2026 that the IGM (Guatemala’s migration institute) and the TSE had signed a five-year cooperation agreement. According to AGN, it creates a secure link between the two institutions’ data centres and an API so the TSE can validate passports and identification data of Guatemalans abroad.
The 2027 rules: what changed in 2026
TSE Agreements 59-2026 (26 February 2026) and 242-2026 (15 July 2026) amended the Regulation for Voting Abroad (TSE Agreement 274-2016). The current text, in the TSE compilation, says:
- ID to register (Art. 5). A valid DPI is required. A valid passport can be used only when the citizen already registered their DPI.
- ID to vote (Art. 8). A valid DPI or passport.
- Vote at any enabled centre (Arts. 8, 10 and 10 Bis). Registration on the roll abroad lets you vote at any enabled polling centre abroad, and Article 10 Bis tells the TSE to run a system so each person votes only once.
- Voting method (Art. 11). The TSE sets it in the call-for-elections decree, according to its resources.
Step by step
1. Make sure your ID is valid
If your DPI has expired, or expires before the election, renew or replace it at a consulate first: see DPI from USA and replace lost DPI from USA. To use a passport, Article 5 requires that you already registered your DPI with the TSE.
2. Register or move your electoral residence abroad, by 20 March 2027
Article 7 of the Regulation gives four channels:
- Online, at the TSE-authorised website. On 3 November 2026 the registration page at
votoenelextranjero.tse.org.gt/registerloaded and laid out three steps: create a user, register or update your data, and check the status of your request. To create the user you go to the Portal Web TSE (portalweb.tse.org.gt), fill in your names, DPI number, date of birth and your country, state and city of residence, accept the terms, and upload photos of the front and back of your DPI. The page says the TSE notifies approval or rejection of the user request by email. - TSE desks in consulates. The TSE held a drive at the Consulado General in Dallas (post of 9 September 2026) and announced one at the consulate in Lake Worth (post of 18 September 2026); more on our numbers and drives page).
- Desks outside consulates, coordinated with the Foreign Ministry.
- Citizens Registry offices in Guatemala.
The roll abroad is made up of people who register or move their electoral residence abroad within the legal deadline (Art. 4). If your electoral residence is still a municipality in Guatemala, this is the step that moves it abroad.
3. Check your registration
The TSE registration lookup (tse.org.gt/reg-ciudadanos/sistema-de-estadisticas/consulta-de-afiliacion) asks for your DPI/CUI or ballot number, date of birth and a verification code. Online applicants can also follow their request in the portal’s status tab.
4. Watch for the call-for-elections decree (planned for 22 January 2027)
The decree sets the districts abroad (Art. 9) and the voting method (Art. 11). If the TSE sets up centres beyond the consular offices, Article 12 says this is communicated by whatever means are feasible.
5. Vote in person on election day
Go to an enabled centre in the US with your valid DPI or passport (Art. 8). Since the 2026 amendment you can use any enabled centre abroad, not only the one tied to the city where you registered. You mark one ballot: President and Vice President.
There is no electronic voting abroad in 2027. Prensa Libre (1 August 2026) reported that the July 2026 amendment opened the possibility of electronic voting, but TSE magistrate Mario Alexander Velásquez said it cannot be applied: “materialmente imposible”, because the Electoral Law still sets voting at polling tables with a physical roll, in person. Nuevo Mundo (20 August 2026) also reported that the TSE ruled out electronic voting for the next election.
6. Runoff, if needed
According to Agencia Ocote (August 2026), there is a runoff if no presidential candidate wins more than half of the valid votes. The preliminary date is 22 August 2027 (AGN, 30 June 2026). You vote again with the same ID.
Where to vote in the USA
The 2027 list of districts and centres comes with the call-for-elections decree. For reference, the TSE PDF of US polling centres for the 2023 General Elections (Centros de Votación en Estados Unidos) lists:
- Southeast: Miami and Orlando (FL), Atlanta (GA), Raleigh and Charlotte (NC)
- Central: Chicago (IL), Dallas and Houston (TX)
- Northeast: Trenton (NJ), Queens (NY, 2 centres), Arlington (VA)
- West: Los Angeles (CA, 2 centres), San Francisco and San Diego (CA), Henderson (NV)
The counts for 2023 differ by source: the TSE’s 2023 news release reports 17 centres in 15 cities; AGN (30 May 2023) reported 33 centres in 15 cities with 158 receiving tables; Prensa Libre (31 August 2026) counts 15 voting places in 15 cities in nine states. A report of 92 voting centres in 29 countries for 2027 (El Diario de Hoy) is about El Salvador’s electoral tribunal, not Guatemala’s.
For state-by-state lookup of the consulate that serves you, see the consulate finder.
Costs
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Voter registration (empadronamiento) | Free, Electoral Law, Art. 8 |
| Residence update | No cost, Electoral Law, Art. 225 |
| Voting | The TSE does not charge |
| Prerequisite: DPI at consulate | US$15 (RENAP fee schedule, Board Agreement 15-2020, Art. 6; read 23 September 2026) |
| Prerequisite: Guatemalan passport at consulate | US$65 for 5 years or US$100 for 10 years (IGM Agreement IGM-029-2023, Art. 4); see passport from USA |
If you were deported or move back before the election
Infobae (12 August 2026) reported that deportees whose electoral residence was registered in the US were left off the roll in Guatemala when the residence-update period closed on 22 January 2026. TSE magistrate Velásquez told Congress the TSE plans a registration desk at the Guatemala City airport, open only to returnees received there, and that the project would go to the full TSE for formal approval. The TSE’s own January 2026 notices describe the 22 January 2026 cutoff as the end of moving residence from one department or municipality to another, and say 2022 changes allow different deadlines for citizens abroad.
How the 22 January 2026 cutoff and the 20 March 2027 deadline apply to someone deported in 2026 or 2027 is unresolved: the TSE texts captured for this page do not reconcile them. If this is your case, ask the TSE. Our guide to arriving on a deportation flight covers the rest of the arrival process.
Common pitfalls
- Never moved your residence abroad after migrating. The roll abroad is made up of people who register or move their electoral residence abroad within the deadline (Regulation, Art. 4). Fix this before 20 March 2027.
- Counting on your passport without ever registering your DPI. Article 5 only accepts the passport if you already registered your DPI.
- Confusing voting abroad with the full ballot. From abroad you only vote for President and Vice President (Electoral Law, Art. 12).
- Not having valid ID on election day. Article 8 requires a valid DPI or passport. In 2023, the TSE president said hundreds of people could not vote because they had no DPI, were not registered, or were registered in another city.
What if I’m a dual US-Guatemala citizen?
Article 144 of Guatemala’s Constitution says no Guatemalan by origin can be deprived of their nationality (Spanish text: «A ningún guatemalteco de origen, puede privársele de su nacionalidad»). From Guatemala’s side, naturalizing in the USA does not take away your nationality of origin, and the vote abroad is for Guatemalan citizens on the roll abroad (Regulation, Art. 8). On how voting affects US citizenship, this page cites no source: the State Department’s dual nationality page could not be read on 8 October 2026 (the server blocked the request), so check that page or ask a US immigration attorney. See our dual citizenship guide.
Sources & resources
- TSE, Electoral and Political Parties Law, its Regulation and the Regulation for Voting Abroad (Agreement 274-2016, with amendments 59-2026 and 242-2026):
https://tse.org.gt/images/LEPP2026.pdf(read 2026-09-30) - TSE voting-abroad registration page:
https://votoenelextranjero.tse.org.gt/register(loaded 2026-11-03) - AGN, 30 September 2026, the 20 March 2027 deadline and April roll:
https://agn.gt/tse-fortalece-empadronamiento-de-guatemaltecos-dentro-y-fuera-del-pais/(read 2026-11-03) - AGN, 30 June 2026, preliminary timetable (22 January, 27 June and 22 August 2027):
https://agn.gt/tse-anuncia-que-elecciones-generales-de-guatemala-seran-el-27-de-junio-del-2027/(read 2026-11-03) - TSE, preliminary electoral timetable (preliminary status):
https://tse.org.gt/comunicacion/noticias/tse-presenta-cronograma-electoral-preliminar-para-las-elecciones-generales-y-de-diputados-al-parlamento-centroamericano-2027(read 2026-09-29) - AGN, 10 September 2026, IGM-TSE agreement:
https://agn.gt/igm-y-tse-fortalecen-coordinacion-para-facilitar-el-voto-de-guatemaltecos/(read 2026-11-03) - Prensa Libre, 1 August 2026, no electronic voting abroad in 2027:
https://www.prensalibre.com/?p=25784370(read 2026-11-03) - Nuevo Mundo, 20 August 2026, registration drives and electronic voting ruled out:
https://nuevomundo.gt/blog/2026/08/20/empadronamiento-de-guatemaltecos/(read 2026-11-03) - Infobae, 12 August 2026, airport registration desk for deportees:
https://www.infobae.com/guatemala/2026/08/12/el-tribunal-supremo-electoral-abrira-un-centro-de-empadronamiento-para-deportados-en-el-aeropuerto-de-ciudad-de-guatemala/(read 2026-11-03) - TSE, end of the residence-update period (22 January 2026):
https://tse.org.gt/comunicacion/noticias/tse-finaliza-etapa-de-actualizacion-de-residencia-electoral(read 2026-09-30) - TSE, news on the 2023 vote abroad (17 centres, 15 cities):
https://www.tse.org.gt/index.php/comunicacion/noticias/864-incrementa-la-participacion-de-guatemaltecos-que-se-manifestaron-con-el-voto-en-el-extranjero(read 2026-11-03) - TSE, US polling centres, 2023 General Elections (PDF): linked from
https://tse.org.gt/direccion-electoral/juntas-receptoras(read 2026-09-30) - AGN, 30 May 2023, 33 centres in 15 cities:
https://agn.gt/guatemaltecos-podran-votar-en-15-ciudades-de-estados-unidos(read 2026-11-03) - El Diario de Hoy (El Salvador), 92 centres in 29 countries:
https://www.eldiariodehoy.com/noticias/nacionales/vives-en-el-extranjero-tse-habilitara-92-lugares-donde-podras-votar-para-presidente-y-diputados-en-2027/90766/2026/(read 2026-11-03) - Swearing-in on 14 January 2028: Agencia Ocote (26 August 2026):
https://www.agenciaocote.com/blog/2026/08/26/fechas-clave-para-las-elecciones-generales-2027/(read 2026-09-29) - RENAP fee schedule (DPI abroad US$15, Board Agreement 15-2020 Art. 6):
https://www.renap.gob.gt/sites/default/files/Comunicacion-Social/pdf/tarifario-renap.pdf(read 2026-09-23) - Last verified: 2026-11-03
Related pages
- Voting abroad: TSE numbers and US registration drives: how many Guatemalans are registered, past turnout, drive dates
- TSE migrant vote: procedure card: requirements and articles on one screen
- DPI from USA: get or renew your DPI at a Guatemalan consulate
- Passport from USA: the alternate ID for voting once your DPI is registered
- Replace lost DPI from USA: if your DPI is lost or stolen before the election
- Dual citizenship Guatemala + USA
- Find your consulate
- All Guatemalan consulates in USA
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline to register to vote from the USA in 2027?
20 March 2027 to register or update your data, a date in the TSE’s preliminary timetable reported by the government news agency AGN (30 June and 30 September 2026). After that date the TSE cleans the roll and publishes it in April 2027. The legal rule is no less than three months before the first presidential election (Regulation for Voting Abroad, Art. 6).
Can I vote in Guatemala's elections from the United States?
Yes, but only for President and Vice President, not for Congress, the Central American Parliament (Parlacén), mayors or municipal councils. The Electoral and Political Parties Law (Art. 12, paragraphs added by Decree 26-2016) creates the vote abroad only for those two offices, cast on the same date as in Guatemala.
What documents do I need to vote from the USA?
To register or update your residence: a valid DPI; a valid passport only if you already registered your DPI (Regulation for Voting Abroad, Art. 5). To vote: a valid DPI or passport (Art. 8). You must also be on the Electoral Roll Abroad.
Can I register online?
Yes. Article 7 of the Regulation lists the TSE-authorised website as one of four channels. On 3 November 2026 the votoenelextranjero.tse.org.gt registration page loaded: you first create a Portal Web TSE user with your DPI number and photos of the front and back of your DPI, then register or update your data, then track your request.
Can I vote online or by mail in 2027?
No electronic voting abroad in 2027. TSE magistrate Mario Alexander Velásquez told Prensa Libre (1 August 2026) it is materialmente imposible because the Electoral Law still sets voting at polling tables with a physical roll, in person. The voting method itself is fixed in the call-for-elections decree (Art. 11).
How much does it cost to register and vote?
The TSE does not charge: Article 8 of the Electoral Law says registration is free, and Article 225 says registering, removing and transferring citizens on the roll, and registration certificates, have no cost. A DPI or passport, if you need one first, has its own consular fee.
Where exactly can I vote in the USA?
At any centre the TSE enables abroad, if you are on the roll abroad (Art. 8, as amended in 2026). The 2027 districts and centres are set in the call-for-elections decree (Arts. 9 and 11), planned for 22 January 2027 in the TSE’s preliminary timetable (AGN, 30 June 2026). In 2023 the TSE reported 17 centres in 15 US cities.
Does voting in Guatemala from abroad affect my US immigration status?
Guatemala’s rules do not make your US status a condition: to vote abroad you identify yourself with a valid DPI or passport (Regulation for Voting Abroad, Art. 8), and the vote is for Guatemala’s President and Vice President only. This page has no source on whether voting data reaches US immigration authorities or how a US immigration officer would treat it, so if your US status is a concern, ask a US immigration attorney before you go.
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